Trump and Iran: The Big Winner is Vladimir Putin

As analysts try to determine who were the big winners and losers in President Donald Trump’s decision pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, most of them seem to have overlooked one of the biggest winners of all…Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin gained a triple victory.

1. Trump drove a deeper wedge between the United States and the other NATO nations. This is one of Putin’s major goals.

2. Trump demonstrated to other national rulers, such as Kim Jong-un of North Korea, that the United States cannot be trusted to stick to agreements it has made. This is just what Putin has been trying to tell people around the world.

3. Because Russia is part of the Iran nuclear deal, it moves Putin closer to Germany, France, United Kingdom…and Iran.

We do not know whether Trump, in withdrawing from the deal, was consciously promoting Putin’s agenda or just blind to the implications of his own actions.